APIs & Integration
Your secret weapon. A great API integration beats building from scratch.
The best hackathon projects aren't built from scratch — they're assembled from the right pieces. A team that knows how to find and integrate the right API can build something in 12 hours that would take weeks to build without it. Mapping APIs (Mapbox, Google Maps) make civic and climate projects credible. Communication APIs (Twilio, Resend) make user-facing features real. Open government data APIs give you instant legitimacy.
Don't integrate an API before you've verified it works in your language/framework. Don't rely on a single third-party API for your core demo — have a fallback if it's down.
Check rate limits before you commit to an API during a hackathon. Many free tiers are generous but have low rate limits that will bite you during a live demo. Test with your actual expected data volume.